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Bexar County commissioners' commitment to the restoration of San Pedro Creek, a waterway with massive historical and cultural significance to our community, is welcome news.

The San Pedro Creek has not flowed through downtown in a long time. It has become nothing more than a drainage ditch, an eyesore in the business district.

Commissioners Court recently agreed to invest $6.25 million in an ecosystem restoration project that will improve waterway physical appearance and make it more usable, Express-News staff writer John W. Gonzalez reported.

The fund will be used for the first phase of design, public outreach and project management in collaboration with the San Antonio River Authority, the Express-News reported. The timeline for completion of the preliminary plans is May 2013.

The timing could not be better. It means the project could be complete in time for the celebration of San Antonio's 300th Birthday in 2018.

What a great way to help commemorate the city's tricentennial and fulfill the vision of local historian Frank Jennings, who proposed a lasting project to commemorate the Alamo City's tricentennial before he died in 2009.

“This creek was the site of our city's beginnings in 1718 with a mission, a villa and a presido; and in 1731, an official Spanish municipality with a government formed after the first official vote in Texas,” Jennings wrote in a guest column published in the Express-News opinion section in 2007.

The city's 300th birthday is no minor occasion, and it will bring international attention. Taking a concrete ditch with sheer walls and replacing it with sloping banks, natural landscaping, walking trails and letting the natural flow that is now being diverted resume will enhance the business district and prompt investment.

It will be a great complement to the improvements along the Museum Reach and Mission Reach of the San Antonio River.

San Antonio is fortunate to have so many natural gems.

Investing in their preservation is a wise move for our cultural health and economic development.